Has Erasmus made me a European?

With the crisis that is currently taking place in Europe, low blows from some, individualism from others, some journalists sometimes ask what is even left of Europe and its initial aims that there were, amongst others, to allow the citizens of each European country to live in democracy and be equal.

It is with this that Europe has also favoured contact between the citizens of its member countries, in order to create a European identity which did not previously exist. The European Union has, therefore, put in place financial measures to encourage exchanges, intercultural encounters, and travel between countries.

This emancipation policy has lots of advantages, in my opinion. First of all, it encourages, for those that can make the most of it, the appearance of important values such as tolerance, sharing, generosity, humanity etc, and also allows us to develop our linguistic, social and cultural skills.

But more specifically, have I really benefited from all of the things I just mentioned during my Erasmus stay? Did their aim of making me, or to envisage making me a European citizen, work? Am I European, before being Belgian?

I am going to try and answer these questions to demonstrate the aims listed above and to analyse, in the most objective way possible, the benefits of this European exchange.

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Surprisingly, I didn't intend on doing a Erasmus stay, despite how much I like travelling and the fact that I always have travel plans in my head. For me, Erasmus was something that everyone had done, that wasn't at all personal, and I didn't want to find myself with loads of other students in the same town. I also had a boyfriend at the time of signing up, and the thought of being apart for a long time (again, as I had already gone away after my final year in school) and being far away from him really didn't motivate me. I, therefore, didn't have an anyone who encouraged me in particular to do it, except for my best friend who was really enjoying herself in Salamanca, Spain. But as the third year of university is so intense in terms of the amount of work to do, I thought to myself that it could be wise to go away; have a breather and have less work. And yes, these initial motivations were hardly noble.

But this all obviously depends on the country you go to. If you go to a Nordic country, generally, you will have as much work to do as you have in your home university. Spanish universities don't have this reputation. I also went there on the basis of saving money. The first thing to say is therefore that the amount of work that an Erasmus student does varies a lot between one country and another, and one university and another.

Effectively, the rent in Spain for a shared apartment costs less than in Belgium. Also, the cost of living is also lower, so I could receive the same amount of pocket money but it would go further. My choice was, therefore, to go to Spain, as I had studied Spanish since I was two, and the two other countries which we could choose from were Italy or France, which didn't appeal to me at all. The second thing to say is the following: depending on the motivation of the Erasmus coordinator in your university, how intelligent they are and how good they are at problem-solving, you will or won't have lots of options for your destination. A literature student at the University of Leige will have more or less destination choices than a communications student, for example. In the same way, a literature student from the 2008 cohort could have more or less choice of destinations than a student in the following year...

Once I had chosen a particular country, I then had to choose what town to go to. Some people chose one for the beach, others for the university and the quality of the course. Here as well, we ask each other, by word of mouth. And there is big chance of going to universities with very different policies and standards. I decided to go to Murcia just to avoid ending up in the same city as my classmates, who were all going to Cadiz. And yes, the third thing to say; Erasmus is sometimes, unfortunately, an opportunity to stay with your same friends in the host country. This isn't really surprising when we had the choice between 5 cities, and three of them were expensive ones, like Madrid or Barcelona.

Then I arrived in my host country, D-day. Very quickly, the Spanish rhythm set in, i found my bearings and I got to know various Erasmus people. The European integration had started, but not for everyone. Basically, as the destinations are so limited, it often works out that there are lots of people in the same class from the same town. Some stay in a group of people from the same country on purpose, whereas others try and meet new people. Well... In the end, I met a lot of French speakers. Fortunately, I lived with Spanish people to improve my command of the host country language. My house-mates have therefore been a bridge between my Belgian culture and Spanish culture. Alas, here, some people also live with fellow Belgians, with their friends. But living in a foreign country is definitely already a really big jump for those kinds of people.

It is difficult to have an Erasmus stay without throwing yourself into the culture of the host country even a little bit. And there are lots of things there to interest us: activities hosted by ESN (an organisation that organises events for Erasmus students in many European cities), offers in bars/ cafes for Erasmus students to go for a drink or try some local dishes, tourist offers and trips offered to Erasmus students, etc. And an Erasmus student has time for everything. Partying, of course, but also travelling. Because you get tired of nights out after a while. I travelled to a lot of cities! Not just in Spain, but also in Morocco, which is really easy to get to from the South of Spain. And other people went to Portugal. You become immersed in the culture through the university too, obviously. How the lessons work, the people that you meet there, the shows and the events which take place.

Specifically, what where the cultural hurdles that I came across in Spain?

And lots of other things...

But has this adventure made me a European? After all, I didn't only get acquainted with Spanish culture, but I also met other students from other countries.

The answer should be nuanced.

Obviously, I have learnt about other cultures through international dinners, through meet-ups, conversations, tandem, etc. In the same way, I made friends from other countries who later paid me a visit, or who I visited. And it is especially thanks to Erasmus that we found a first common denominator to base our friendship on.

Bur some of these friendships can sometimes be a bit superficial due to this common denominator. I will explain. The Erasmus experience is a unique experience, as you behave differently due to being an Erasmus student, you are not like a normal "student". In fact, certain friendships don't last once you have left the Erasmus setting. But it also depends on the activities that you have in place.

This framework makes Erasmus a poignant and unique experience, which I finally escaped thanks to the friendships I formed with local people. They later came to see me in Belgium and I also returned to Murcia on their part. And I finally returned there this year to work there through the Leonardo grant.

So yes, in the end, I overcame my prejudices, my linguistic and cultural barriers and became a European citizen... Or in any case, a Belgian-Spanish citizen. And without a doubt, this new identity made me see nationalism in a completely different way. I honestly sometimes feel closer to certain Spanish people than I do Belgian people. In fact, geographic borders have lost their meaning for me.

Of course, I realise that from living again with a Polish Erasmus student this year, Europe is really big and that the common ground which exists between Belgium and Spain is not the same as what exists between other countries. So, can I really claim to be a European citizen? Do I know enough about the other countries that surround me, even if I just went there for the holidays?

I think that the values that I adopted from my two experiences, from Erasmus then through my Leonardo placement, pushed me to think of myself as a citizen of the world, not just of Europe, and that my vision is a vision without borders - which at the end of the day corresponds with the European vision.

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